


Little Shelby's

by MyDreamsAreMyWings



Category: Peaky Blinders (TV)
Genre: Finn Shelby - Freeform, Multi, Peaky Blinders - Freeform, Punishment, Shelby Children, Spanking, arthur shelby - Freeform, john shelby - Freeform, michael gray - Freeform, tommy shelby - Freeform
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2021-02-08
Updated: 2021-02-28
Packaged: 2021-03-14 15:55:27
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 9
Words: 18,311
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29298504
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/MyDreamsAreMyWings/pseuds/MyDreamsAreMyWings
Summary: The Shelby kids are always up to some kind of trouble, driving their parents mad.This is what happens when they push their parent's too far.(Contains spanking as punishment! You have been warned .Mainly based around John being a single dad to his 7 kids, but all the other Shelby kids are also featured)
Comments: 14
Kudos: 17





	1. Characters

**Author's Note:**

> This is my first time trying something like this so I hope it's not awful!  
> Also I would like to make it clear that I don't agree with spanking children but this is honestly probably how they would have been disciplined given the time period.  
> Also just a quick one to say that everything might not be historically accurate but I've done my best.  
> Hope you enjoy!

Tommy & Lizzie  
Charles Shelby - 19  
Ruby Shelby - 15

Arthur & Linda  
William ‘Billy’ Shelby - 18  
Minnie Shelby - 14

John (Single)  
Matilda ‘Tilly’ Shelby - 16  
Artie Shelby - 16  
Joseph ‘Joey’ Shelby - 15  
Elsie Shelby - 12  
Hattie Shelby - 10  
Vincent ‘Vinny’ Shelby - 7  
Birdie Shelby - 3

Michael & Gina  
Edward ‘Eddie’ Gray - 17  
Emmeline Gray - 13  
Felix Gray - 11

Finn & Odette  
Archie Shelby - 6  
Eliza Shelby - 4


	2. Chapter One

John ran his hands through his hair as he made his way down to the Garrison, fuming that he’d had his work day interrupted by word of his kids causing chaos, as if it were anything fucking new. He’d told them he couldn’t be called away from work today. Today was important and they weren’t to leave the house. They couldn’t do as they were told for one fucking day. 

“Artie we have to go! Dad’s gonna go ballistic if he finds out!” John heard Elsie’s anxious voice say as soon as he walked into the pub. At least one of his kids is trying to behave themselves.

“You got that fucking right” John said, placing his hands on Elsie’s shoulders from behind her, making her jump, and causing Artie and Joey to look up at their dad nervously “Would you care to explain to me what the fuck you’re all doing in here?!”

John scanned the four kids in front of him waiting for an answer. His own three stayed silent and Eddie, Michael’s boy, let out a snigger. “Something funny?” John asked “Don’t think your father doesn’t know you’re here, you’ve got ten minutes to get your arse home so I’d get a move on if I were you”

“Fucks sake” Eddie mumbled, as he stood up and started pacing home. John simply rolled his eyes before glaring back at his own kids “Well?”

“Got bored” Artie mumbled, not looking his father in the eye.

“You got bored?” John repeated, raising an eyebrow, before bending down to his son’s eye level where they were seated “Does that sound like a good enough reason to be in a pub at your ages? When I told you to stay at fucking home?!”

“No” Joey replied, also refusing to look directly at his dad.

“No it’s bloody well not” John turned his attention to his daughter “And what the fuck do you think you’re doing here?”

“Trying to stop them….” Elsie replied, tears in her eyes threatening to fall. She hated it when John was mad. She was such a daddy’s girl and always tried to stay on his good side, rarely actually getting in trouble.

John nodded a little before standing upright. “Get home, now.”

The two boys got up and started walking quickly, ahead of John, whereas Elsie took her fathers hand and walked alongside him. John almost exploded when he walked into a the house, where the place was a shithole, Hattie and Vinny were tackling each other over a toy, Tilly was trying to separate them while trying to clean up and while trying to cook, evidently failing at doing all three if the strong smell of burning was anything to go by.

“You two need to fucking pack it in” Tilly hissed, trying to pull Hattie off of Vinny.

“You need to watch your fucking mouth before I wash it out” John said, slamming the front door behind him. Tilly huffed and rolled her eyes.

“You bloody get them to stop then!” She snapped, before disappearing into the kitchen. John shook his head. She was a good girl, his Tilly. She wanted a simple life, wasn’t into the fighting and drama that came with being a Shelby, just wanted to wear pretty dresses and be a girl, but she had a mouth and a half on her, always talking herself into trouble.

“Right, you two sit down and don’t fucking move” He said, gesturing towards Artie and Joey “Elsie, get in the kitchen and help your sister try not to burn the bloody house down, as for you two” he said, walking over to Hattie and Vinny, picking up Vinny in one swoop, turning him around in his arms and smacking him 3 times, before grabbing Hattie and giving her same “You carry on fighting like this you’ll both end up across my knee, you hear me? Now get this mess cleaned up”

The two kids sniffled at the smacks they’d been given, and John nodded satisfied as they started to tidy their mess. He then frowned as he looked around the room. Artie was here, so was Joey, Hattie and Vinny. Tilly and Elsie were in the kitchen, so where the fuck was Birdie?

“Dad-“ Artie started, but John cut him off

“Shut up” He snapped, walking into the kitchen “Where’s Birdie?”

“Odette took her next door” Tilly replied, looking over her shoulder at her dad “She could hear through the walls that they were all being little shits so she came and helped me out for a while then took Birdie back with her”

“Right” John said, before going back into the other room, where they toys had been picked up, and his eldest boys were still sat waiting for him “You two, go and play upstairs” He said, ushering Hattie and Vinnie out the room, before turning to look at the boys “You can both bare your arses and get yourselves over the back of the couch”

“Fuck sake Artie look what you did” Joey said glaring at his brother, only to be met with a clip round the ear from his dad.

“Watch your language and don’t fucking blame him, it may have been his stupid idea but you’re the idiot that went along with it, now come on get a move on, both of you”

The boys both grumbled as they did what they were told, and Joey shuddered a little when he saw John take off his belt and fold it in half. It’d been a while since either of them had earned themselves a belting, and judging by how pissed off John was, they weren’t gonna get away with just a few smacks. And they were right to think that. Once they were both over the couch John wasted no time, landing two hard smacks at a time on each boy, alternating between them. They were both silent during the spanking, only letting out the odd groan or a slight wiggle, even though they were crying heavily, you wouldn’t be able to tell. They wanted to be seen as men and they weren’t gonna be taken seriously if they were kicking and screaming over a sore arse. John knew they were crying, of course, and he sympathised with how their backsides must feel as if they were on fire, he’d been on the receiving end of a belt enough times to know. John stopped whipping the boys after a while and stood back, looked at the angry red stripes across their arses and decided they’d had enough.

“Have we learnt our lesson boys or do I need to carry on?” John asked, eyebrow raised.

“We’ve learnt our lesson” Joey choked out

“Won’t happen again dad” Artie mumbled

John nodded, satisfied with the answers “Good. Get yourselves upright and get dressed”

The boys scrambled to their feet and quickly pulled their trousers up, wincing as they did, and they turned away from John to wipe their tears away with their sleeves.

“C’mere boys” John said, pulling both of them in for a hug. Doesn’t matter how old they were, or what they’d done, he’d always give his kids a cuddle after a good hiding “Don’t let this happen again, eh?” He said, planting a kiss on top of their heads as they both nodded. “Get yourselves cleaned up for dinner”

John sighed and sat on the couch as he watched his sons leave them room, before running his hands through his hair. “Elsie Belle! Get in here!” He called through, and seconds later a very nervous looking Elsie appeared in the doorway. He gestured for her to come over to him, which she did until she stood in front of him.

“Now you listen to me my girl, just because your brothers are bloody idiots doesn’t mean you go out after them and get yourself into trouble, you hear me?” 

Elsie nodded “Yes daddy”

“Good” John said, spinning her around and giving her a few hard smacks “Cause next time you leave this house after I’ve told you not to, I’ll smack your arse properly, understood little miss?”

Elsie stomped her feet and wiggled, trying to get away from her dads hard hand, but he had a firm grip on her. She was already crying, she was never good at taking a smacking, would always make a big fuss about it “I understand! I’m sorry daddy!!”

“Good” John said, stopping the smacks and pulling her into a cuddle “I know you was only trying to help, but you need to listen to me, not run off after them, alright?”

“Alright” Elsie mumbled, cuddling into her dads chest. 

“That’s my girl” John said, before standing up and leading his daughter back into the kitchen to help Tilly. “Right, I’m going next door to get your sister, or do you need your arse smacked as well?”

“Nope” Tilly replied, popping the ‘P’. “I need to ask-“

“Ask me after dinner” John said, kissing the top of her head “I just want an hours bloody peace” 

And with that he left the house and walked straight into his little brothers house, right next door to the left of him.

“Finn! Get me a drink brother” John said as he sat himself down, where he immediately had his toddler run at him. John swooped her up into his lap and kissed her cheek, causing her to giggle “You been good eh?”

“She’s been a little angel” Odette said “Even if our two have been terrorising her”

John chucked and placed Birdie down again and she immediately ran off “Thanks for watching her”

Odette nodded “I’m always happy to help”

“Finn! Where’s that bloody drink?!”

“Oh fucking hell John you know where the glasses are, get your own fucking drink!” Finn called back, causing John to roll his eyes as he got up to pour himself one.

“Tilly’s really struggling with the kids” Odette said “I honestly thought they were having a war earlier, the sounds I heard through the walls”

John sighed as he sat back down “I know, I know. What am I supposed to do? I can’t take them to work and I can’t bloody well stay home. It’ll be easier when summer’s over and they’re back in school”

“Let us help you” Odette said, as Finn finally came into the room and sat with them “Lizzie, Linda, Gina and I can watch the kids while you’re working. Tilly deserves to enjoy her summer”

John ran his hands through his hair “You’ve all got your own kids to deal with”

Finn rolled his eyes “For fucks sake John, she’s offering you a solution here”

John glared at his brother “Yeah alright thanks Finn” He rolled his eyes “You sure you don’t mind?”

“It’s only a couple more weeks until school starts again, we’d be happy to help you out”

John nodded “Thanks” He said, before standing up, placing his glass on the table “Come on Birdie! Come say goodbye to your Aunt and Uncle”

“I stay!” Birdie called back 

“No, you’re coming home, come say goodbye”

“Okay” Birdie said sadly as she toddled in from the other room, and John picked her up so she couldn’t run off again. “Bye bye” She said, waving to Finn and Odette.

“See you tomorrow sweetie” Odette said, and John gave them a nod of thanks as he left, and took Birdie home.

“Dinners ready!” Tilly called from the kitchen, causing all the kids to run and scramble for the ‘best’ seats. John didn’t get it, all the seats were the fucking same, made no difference as long as you were fed. He put Birdie down in her chair and grabbed a plate, sitting himself at the head of the table.

“Right you lot, I want a nice quiet dinner, no fucking arguing or shouting” John said as all the kids sat down “I’m sick of you lot bloody fighting all the time”

They were quiet as they ate for a minute or two, then Joey looked over to John. “Why can’t we go in the pub?”

John looked at him “What?”

“Why can’t we go in the pub?” Joey repeated

“Because you’re fifteen” John replied “When you’re 18 you can go in the pub as much as you like”

“I wanna go to the pub!” Vinny piped up, causing John to chuckle

“You’ve got a while to wait Vinny boy” 

“I want to go to a party and wear my pink dress!” Hattie said happily 

“Well you’re in luck aren’t ya, it’s Emmeline’s birthday party next week” John replied

“You said we can’t go if we’re naughty”

“Best fucking behave yourselves then eh?” John said, and she nodded “Right, Artie and Joey you’re doing dishes”

“But-“ Artie started to argue, but the look on his fathers face told him not too.

“Dad!” Tilly said, following him out of the kitchen “I still need to ask-“

“Ask me what?” John said, clearly frustrated

“If I can go to the pictures tonight”

John raised an eyebrow “Who with?”

“Ummm Charlie. I think Eddie too, and Billy!” Tilly said, smiling sweetly at her dad.

John crossed his arms and leaned in the doorway “Charlie, Eddie and Billy? No one else?” He asked, knowing that Tilly had taken quite a shine to one of Charlie’s friends, Franklin Grove.

“Uh, Charlie said he might have some friends with him…..” Tilly stuttered 

“I see. So you want me to let you go out late on a Friday with a bunch of older boys?”

Tilly huffed “Eddie’s my age”

John raised an eyebrow “Charlie picking up and walking you home?” 

Tilly nodded “You know Charlie’ll look after me!”

“Alright then” John said, pulling some coins from his pocket and handing them to her “You behave yourself”

Tilly grinned and pretty much jumped at John, hugging him tight “Thank you!”

John chuckled and kissed the top of her head “You have a good time, I want you home by 10”

“Alright dad” She smiled and ran off upstairs to get ready.

It was a mere 15 minutes minutes later that Charlie walked through the front door and leaned in the doorway of where John was sat with a drink.

“She ready?” He asked, looking at his uncle.

“She should be” John replied “Tilly! Charlie’s here!”

“Coming!” Tilly called back from upstairs

“Can I go to the pictures too?” Elsie asked

“Not tonight” John said

“But why not?”

“Because I bloody said no, they’re going to be out late”

Elsie huffed “I’m 12 now!”

“Elsie Belle, I said no, so stop arguing unless you want to go to bed with a smacked arse”

“You sound almost like you’re the same good mood my dad’s in” Charlie chuckled 

“Oh yeah? Who’s upset him then?” 

Charlie lit up a cigarette and looked at John “Ruby and her fucking mouth, dad reckons she’s getting it from those fucking Farrah Lane girls that go to their school”

John nodded “Tilly’s picking it up too, thinks she can’t talk to me however she bloody well wants”

“Well dads pretty sick and tired of it, making him a right misery. Lizzie don’t help either, Ruby can do no wrong in her eyes” 

“Yeah she went soft the day Ruby was born” John said, before glancing at the clock “What time are you meant to be at the pictures?”

Charlie glanced at the clock himself “In 5 bloody minutes.Tilly! I’m leaving now!”

“Alright, alright” Tilly said, running down the stairs “I’m ready”

“Who you all dressed up for?” Charlie asked, causing Tilly to blush as she got embarrassed 

“No one” She spat “Let’s go”

“Put a coat on, you’ll catch a death out there” John said “I want her home by 10 Charlie”

“Alright Uncle John” Charlie said, leading Tilly out the door, and he proceeded to pretty much drag her along the road towards the picture house.

“Oh fucking hell Charlie where’s the fire?!” Tilly snapped, pulling on his arm trying to get him to slow down

“When I tell people I’ll be somewhere at a certain time, then I’ll be there at that time. It’s not my fault you made us late”

Tilly rolled her eyes “Can I have a cigarette?”

“No”

“Tonight is supposed to be fun Charlie! So can you just bloody calm down!” 

Charlie sighed, stopped and turned to look at her “Look,Tilly. I know you wanted to come tonight so you could see Frankie. And because I’m the cool cousin, I said you could tag along. But I’m telling you now that Frankie isn’t gonna be interested in a mouthy little brat so you best clear up your attitude right now”

Tilly’s face turned sour “You sound like Uncle Tommy”

“Do you not fucking listen?!” Charlie snapped, frustrated “I can drag you home just as quickly as I dragged you here”

“You used to be fun” Tilly said, the attitude in her voice disappearing and the sound of sadness seeping through, causing Charlie to sigh 

“Well stop bloody pissing me off and I’ll be more fun, won’t I?”

“Alright” Tilly said “Will you buy me some sweets? Dad only give me enough for the ticket”

Charlie chuckled “Yea, I’ll buy you some sweets” He said as they reached the picture house, where Eddie, Billy, Frankie, and some other people that Tilly only vaguely recognised were waiting.

“We got the tickets already” Billy said, handing them both one “What took you so long?”

“Had to get herself all done up, didn’t she” Charlie replied, nodding his head toward Tilly.

“What we doing here on a fucking Friday night anyway? Why ain’t we in the pub?” Frankie asked

“Kids wanted a night out” Charlie laughed

“We ain’t fucking kids” Eddie growled, and Tilly nodded in agreement 

“Whatever, let’s go and watch the bloody movie” Billy said as they all went inside.


	3. Chapter Two

When the movie finished, they walked outside to see the police pulling up and rushing out of the cars. It wasn’t unusual to see police around, someone was always doing something they shouldn’t be. What they weren’t expecting though, was for Charlie, Billy and some of the other boys to get arrested. There was a scuffle, of course. No peaky boy was gonna go with the coppers quietly, somewhere in the fight was a gunshot, causing Tilly to squeal and hide behind Frankie, which didn’t last long, as the coppers grabbed him too, although he managed to escape their grasp and he bolted, before they could get their hands on them again.

“What the fuck is going on?!” Billy shouted as the police grabbed him “What the fuck is going on Charlie?!”

“I don’t fucking know!” Charlie snapped back as he was being dragged away “Eddie! Go and tell my dad we’ve been fucking nicked! And get Tilly home!”

“Alright Charlie!” Eddie called back, but as he looked around he realised Tilly was gone “Fuck” he mumbled to himself, before he sped off down the road, running to Tommy’s house.

He started banging on the door, shouting for Tommy. Of course it was Frances that opened the door.

“Mr Shelby’s busy” Frances started to explain but Eddie walked straight past her into Tommy’s office.

“Uncle Tommy! Uncle Tommy!”

“What is it?” Tommy said, looking up at the boy, unimpressed that he’d been interrupted 

“Charlie and Billy just got nicked outside the picture house” Eddie explained, out of breath

“They fucking what?”

“And I erm, lost Tilly”

“You lost Tilly?” 

Eddie nodded and Tommy sighed in frustration.

“Right, you telephone Arthur and let him know, then telephone John and see if Tilly went home” Tommy said as he was putting his coat on “Then get home yourself”

-

John was beside himself with worry, pacing up and down the room, unable to sit still. Finn had joined him, with strict instruction not to let John out of the house, knowing his temper would get the better of him. 

“Where the fuck is she Finn?!” He snapped, glancing up at the clock, it was almost 2am and still no sign of Tilly.

“She’ll be alright, brother. She’s a smart girl” Finn replied, trying to be supportive.

“I swear if anyone’s touched so much as a hair on her head I’ll fucking kill them!” 

“Have a drink John” Finn said, pouring some whisky into a glass and passing it to him “She’ll be home”

“Daddy? What’s going on?” Hattie said as she appeared in the room, rubbing her tired eyes 

John sighed “Nothing’s going on my girl, go back to bed”

“I had a bad dream” Hattie pouted 

“Well that’s no good is it?” John said, picking her up “What was your bad dream about?”

“Mummy” She said, breaking John’s heart with the one word “I miss her”

“Me too” John said, before looking out the window when he heard the sound of a car engine “Right, you need to go back to bed” He put her down and ushered out of the room

“But-“

“Now Hattie!” He snapped, and she made her way upstairs as John opened the front door, where Tommy rushed in with a bloodied and bruised Tilly in his arms.

“Tommy what the fuck happened?!” John demanded as Tommy laid Tilly down on the couch 

“Not a clue, found her like this down on Bridge Street, not another soul in sight. I’ve given her some medicine, she’s going to be pretty out of it for a while

“Fuck!” John shouted, kicking over a chair “What about the boys?”

“I’ve spoken to Moss, I can pick them up in the morning” Tommy explained “We’ll find whoever did this to her”

“Yeah, and when we do I’m gonna put a fucking bullet in them!” John fumed, at this point with angry tears running down his face

“Dad?” Tilly coughed out, causing John’s whole demeanour to change, his face went softer and he instantly crouched down next to her and took her hand, and used his other hand to push her hair back.

“I’m here sweetheart” 

“M’late” Tilly mumbled, and John couldn’t help but let out a small chuckle

“Well I think I’ll let you off this once, eh? What’d ya think Tommy?” He said

“Oh I don’t know John, I don’t think there’s any excuse for being home this late” Tommy said, playing along, causing John to chuckle again 

“M’sorry” Tilly mumbled, looking at John 

“You don’t need to be sorry my girl” John said, kissing her forehead “Let’s get you to bed eh?”

“Come on Finn, let’s leave the man alone” Tommy said, nodding his head towards the door “We’ll see you tomorrow John”

“See you tomorrow” John said as they left. “Who did this to you Tilly?”

Half asleep, Tilly mumbled out the word ‘Frankie’, and John shook his head before carrying her to bed.

-

“Frankie here yet?” John boomed as we walked into work the next day

“Yeah he’s in-“ Finn started, but John cut him off

“Good” He said, storming past everyone into Tommy’s office, where Charlie, Billy and Frankie were sat.

Within a split second, before anyone could react, John had Frankie up against the wall, absolutely fuming.

“Uncle John! What are you doing?!”

“Let him go, brother!” Tommy said “What’s going on?!”

“I asked Tilly who did that to her last night, she said Frankie” John spat “So I want to know exactly what fucking happened”

Frankie shook his head “It wasn’t me! It was my boys, I fucking stopped them” He started to explain “I chased them off, by the time I got back to where Tilly was she was gone, so I went to your place and saw through the window that she was there so I went home!!”

John’s angry face relaxed a bit, but he still didn’t let the boy go.

“I swear Mr Shelby” Frankie said “I’d never hurt Tilly”

John nodded and stepped back, letting Frankie go, and he started to pace the room “Why? Why are your boys out at night targeting young girls?”

“I-I don’t know” Frankie replied “I have no idea what was going through their heads”

“Well you best tell them to stay the fuck out of town, because if I see them, they won’t live to see the end of day”

Frankie nodded a little. “Is she okay?”

John sighed “She’ll be just fine in a few days”

“Right, can we get to work now gentlemen? Or would you like to continue this thrilling drama?” Tommy asked

John rolled his eyes “Whatever you say, brother”

-

“Daaaddddyyyy”

Tommy sighed as he heard his daughter’s voice echo through the halls “I’m at work, Ruby, what do you need?”

“Me and Minnie want to go shopping!” 

“So then go shopping” Tommy told the girl

“Well, give me some money then” Ruby said bluntly, causing Tommy, John, Finn and Arthur to all raise an eyebrow

“Excuse me?”

“You need to give me some money, so that we can go shopping” 

Tommy sighed “You’re not going shopping, tell Minnie to go home”

“But you just said I could go!!” Ruby stomped her foot

Tommy sighed “Arthur, why don’t you get Minnie home to Linda, Finn and John, could you leave me to talk to my daughter, I think it’s time she learnt a lesson about manners”

“Good luck brother” Finn said, as he started to leave the room with John

“You’ve got all this to come when your two get older” John laughed as they left, Arthur following behind.

Ruby stood there, a sulky look on her face with her arms crossed, scowling at her father.

“What’s with the attitude, Rubes?” He asked calmly, but looking at her expectantly.

“I just want to go shopping with Minnie, what’s the big deal?” She snapped

“Ruby Shelby you know you cannot talk to me that way, if you want something you can ask me for it nicely, you don’t come in here and demand money from me, I’m getting real sick of your mouth”

“So can I go shopping or not?” Ruby asked, annoyed.

“No, Ruby, you’re not going shopping” Tommy said, sitting down “You’re gonna come over here and get yourself across my lap”

Ruby shook her head “No”

“Excuse me? Get over here now”

“No”

Tommy took a deep breath, quickly losing his patience with the teenager, before he stood up and walked over to her, grabbed her upper arm and dragged her back over to his chair.

“Dadddy nooo! Please!! I’ll be good!!”

“Oh so you do know how to be polite?” Tommy questioned, as he pulled her across his lap “Let’s make sure we drive the message home then, eh?”

“I’m too old for a spanking!!”

“Oh Rubes, you’re never too old to be taught a lesson” Tommy said, as he pulled up the layers of her dress and started to smack her over her underwear “You know better than to speak to me, or anyone, like that, and it’s high time you learned some respect, little madam”

Tommy continued spanking her, and she started squirming and wiggling almost immediately. She absolutely HATED being spanked by Tommy. His hand was just SO hard. Being spanked by Tommy’s hand was always worse than being spanked with anything else, to the point where there had actually been times in the past when she’d chosen the hairbrush over Tommy’s hand.  
Tommy never lectured during a spanking, the kids knew why they were being punished, and Tommy was a busy man, so he just got on with it. It wasn’t long before Ruby was crying and kicking, promising to be good.

“Dadddyyy pleaasee stop!” She begged “I promise I’ll be good!”

“Oh my little Ruby, I wish that were true, but this isn’t the first time we’ve had this discussion, is it?” Tommy said “So this time, I’m going to really drive the message home”

This caused Ruby to start crying more, especially when Tommy pulled down her underwear, and started to land harder spanks, which Ruby didn’t think was possible. The spanking went on for what felt like forever, and Ruby was almost certain that her father had lit a fire in his backside.

“I’m half tempted to wash your mouth out” Tommy said, as he stopped the punishment and pulled up her underwear and lowered her dress down again.

Ruby shook her head furiously, crying too much to be able to talk, hoping to God that her dad would decide against the mouth washing. Tommy picked her up and placed her in his lap, where she immediately wrapped her arms around his neck and sobbed into him, and he placed a gentle kiss on her head.

“I think you’ve learnt your lesson, eh?”

Ruby nodded and started mumbled senseless apologies to him.

“Go on, go and get yourself cleaned up” Tommy said, tapping her, signalling for her to move “I’ve got a lot of work to do”

And with that Ruby got up and left the room, and Tommy sighed and buried himself in his work.


	4. Three

“What the fuck is going on?!” John bellowed as he came into the house. It was Friday night, he’d just finished work, and he came home to what he could only imagine was all seven of his own children, plus all of the other’s children, trying to murder each other.  
Well, apparently asking what was going on was completely the wrong thing to do, because they all started screaming and shouting over each other, accusing each other of this that and the other, and whatever had happened, even Charlie and Billy were joining in, which was odd for the older boys, they didn’t bicker, if they were in trouble they were in real trouble, not childish things like this.

“Enough! All of you sit down and shut up!” John took a deep breath as the room quietened down. He looked at the kids scattered across the living room and shook his head “Where’re your mothers?”

“Seem to remember putting them in a wagon and burning them” Tilly spat, causing John to give her an icy glare.

“Get upstairs.” John said sharply, and didn’t say anything until Tilly had left the room and limped her way to her bedroom, still recovering from her injuries. “Well?”

“Something about a girls night out” Eddie said “Apparently we’re to stay here until you lot finish work”

“Is that right?” John said, as he put a cigarette in his mouth and lit it “So what the fuck were you all fighting about?”

Emmeline started to say something, but was quickly interrupted by Joey, and then suddenly they were all shouting over each other.

“Oh fucking hell stop!” John shouted, quickly losing his patience with the bunch, and they suddenly silenced at the shock of his loud voice “Emmeline, what were you going to say?”

“Archie, Eliza and Birdie all started fighting over a toy, so Minnie tried to get them to stop, but Hattie told her to leave her little sister alone, and Eddie told Hattie not to get involved, so then they are started arguing, then Tilly tried to get them to stop which is how she got involved, then Artie and Joey tried to get everyone to calm down, which didn’t go well, so I asked everyone to stop shouting, which meant they started shouting at me, so Billy told everyone to shut up, which Felix, Vinny, Elsie and Ruby thought was rude and started arguing with Billy, then Charlie came in and tried to calm everyone down but it just got worse from there” Emmeline explained shyly, worried about getting herself, and everyone, in trouble.

“Fucking snitch” Ruby mumbled, causing John’s eyes to dart to her 

“You’ve been warned about your fucking mouth” He said, before scanning the room again “What happened to looking out for each other, eh? We’re fucking Shelby’s, we don’t fight each other like this! Billy and Charlie you’re not boys anymore, you’re fucking men! You should be setting a fucking example! And Eddie, you’re a man soon, it’s high time you all started fucking acting like it! As for the rest of you, you’re lucky there’s so many of you and only one of me cause I swear I would smack each and every one of you right now. This is fucking ridiculous”

“What’s fucking ridiculous?” Arthur asked, as he walked into the house “What’s happened?” 

“These lot causing the next bloody world war” 

Arthur frowned “Billy, why’ve you got a black eye?”

“Eddie thought he’d be a big man and punch me” Billy shrugged

“Eddie did what?” Michael asked, appearing from nowhere, along with Finn and Tommy.

“Now who’s the snitch” Eddie spat, causing Billy to sit upright.

“Do you really wanna go there?” Billy threatened, already ready for a fight.

“Edward, Emmeline and Felix, come on, we’re going home” Michael said, clearly not happy with the situation and having no patience to hear the full story. The three kids grumbled as they were pushed out the door by their dad.

“Billy, Minnie, let’s go” Arthur said, nodding his head towards the door “I’ll see you tomorrow, brothers”

Tommy, Finn and John just gave him a nod as he left with his kids, and Finn walked over to scoop up Eliza, and grabbed Archie’s wrist to drag him out, again just giving his brothers a nod as he left.

“Charlie and Ruby, go home” Tommy said “By the time I get there Ruby you better be in my office and Charlie you best be out back”

Charlie scoffed “I’m too fucking old for that”

Tommy chuckled sarcastically “Is that right? You hear that John? Our Charlie too old to go out back, imagine that”

“Charlie boy, if I ain’t too old for it, then you certainly ain’t” John said, causing Charlie’s face to drop. John wasn’t even lying, there was a certain situation that he’d gotten himself into a few months ago, which Tommy had given specific orders not to do, but John being John went and did it anyway, and well, the only way Tommy felt right to deal with it was with a dose of the razor strop. John may be a full grown man, but Tommy still felt very responsible for him, as he did with Finn. Mind you, that was the only time John had been on the receiving end of a strapping since before Tilly was born, but it was a clear reminder that Tommy was still very much the protective older brother he always had been.

“Fucking hell” Charlie mumbled, as he left with Ruby following behind.

“You need a hand here?” Tommy asked John, and John shrugged a little, scratching at the back of neck, before looking back at his kids.

“Don’t fucking move” He mumbled, before walking into the kitchen, and Tommy got the hint and followed him “What do I do, Tommy? There’s fucking seven of them and only one of me”

“You need a woman, brother” Tommy said, causing John to roll his eyes

“I don’t want another fucking woman” He snapped, he thought losing two wives was enough for one lifetime “I want kids who know how to fucking behave”

“You and me both, John, you and me both”

John sighed “No, you go home and deal with your two, I’ll be alright”

“You sure?”

“Yeah”

“Alright, you know where I am” Tommy said, as he pulled on his gloves

“Thanks Tommy” John said as Tommy left, and he took a deep breath and went back to his own kids, who were all muttering about what they thought their punishments were going to be, but the silenced as their father walked into the room and sat down in his chair.

“Bed. All of you” John said simply, and scarily calmly.

“What about dinner?” Hattie asked, sadly

“Fuck dinner!” John snapped “All of you, get to fucking bed. Now!”

John ran his hands through his hair as all his kids scrambled upstairs, leaving Birdie sat on the floor. He sighed and looked at her. “Birdie, come ‘ere”

Birdie stood up and toddled over to her dad, who held both of her arms and looked her in the eyes.

“Do you know what you did wrong today?” John asked her, and she nodded

“No fightin’” 

“That’s right, fighting’s naughty, ain’t it?”

Again, she nodded.

“And what happens when we’re naughty, Birdie?”

Birdie pouted and frowned “Smack an’ corner”

John nodded, eyebrow slightly raised “Do you understand that I need to smack you and put you in the corner ‘cause you was fighting?”

Birdie nodded sadly, breaking John’s heart. He didn’t waste time with his youngest, swiftly turning her around and delivering two smacks, that were basically taps, to her backside, before picking her up and placing her in the corner of the room.

“Two minutes Birdie, then we can have a cuddle” He said to the crying toddler, before he took his seat again. He started to think about what he could make for dinner, because even though he’d sent them to bed, he knew he was too soft to let them go without their feed. And he also knew that Tilly was in no mood to do the cooking, so he’d have to do it himself. Maybe Tommy was right, maybe he does need a woman. He sighed and glanced at the clock, then back at Birdie, who was still sobbing in the corner.

“C’mere my little girlie” John said, noticing the two minutes was up, and Birdie bolted over to him, where he scooped her up into his lap and held her closely, while she cuddled into his chest and calmed down her crying.

“M’sowwy daddy” She sniffled, and John wiped her tears and kissed the top of her head.

“I know darlin’, it’s alright, all done now” John mumbled with a sigh “Why don’t you play with your toys while I go deal with your brothers and sisters, eh?”

Birdie nodded and climbed off John’s lap, happily sitting on the floor to play with her wooden blocks. John nodded, satisfied that she was occupied, before he made his way upstairs, and went into Vinny’s room, dreading the many spankings he was about to dish out.


	5. Four

“The boys are down in London!” Frankie shouted as he darted into the office, and all the boys looked at him “The boys that hurt Tilly, they’re in London, I have an address!”

“Arthur” Tommy said, and Arthur immediately sprung into action

“On it” He said, taking the piece of paper Frankie was holding and walking out of the room. 

“John, stay put” Tommy said to his brother, who’d gotten up to follow Arthur.

“You’ve got to be fucking joking” John scoffed 

“John, if you go down there you’ll lose your head and get yourself fucking hung. Let our men deal with it” Tommy explained, causing John to shake his head, but he didn’t argue.

“There’s actually something I want to ask you” Frankie said to John, a slight nervous tone to his voice.

“What’s that then?” John asked

“I’d like to take Tilly out to dinner tonight” Frankie said, and John just looked at him, speechless.

“You… I… You fucking what?” John said, causing Tommy to laugh

“He wants to take our Tilly on a date” Tommy said

“No” John said “She’s too young”

“With all due respect… she’s sixteen. She’s marrying age” Frankie replied, and once again John shook his head.

“Oh, so you’re gonna marry her, are ya?” He lit up a cigarette, clearly stressed about the thought of his oldest baby being old enough to start going out on dates.

“Well, I’d at least like a dinner with her before I decide that” Frankie chuckled, but stopped when he saw John’s unamused face.

“What if I go with them?” Charlie offered, realising that Frankie was getting nowhere “A double date, I’ll take Mia”

“Mia?” Tommy asked “Who’s Mia?”

“She’s erm, just a girl I’ve been seeing for a while”

“She your girlfriend?”

“Um… Kind of” Charlie said

“How long have you been seeing her?” Tommy asked, not liking that his son had been seeing someone and he didn’t know about it. He liked to keep tabs on who was sniffing around his family.

“Erm, a year? Ish?”

“A fucking year? And you’ve never even mentioned her?! Who is this girl?” Tommy demanded, clearly not happy about this.  
“Amelia” Charlie replied simply

“Amelia, who?” Tommy asked through gritted teeth

Charlie sighed “Look dad, you’re not gonna like it but I really like her so can you not make it a big deal? Please?”

“Amelia, who, Charles?”

Charlie sighed once again, refusing to look his father in the eyes “Amelia Solomans” he mumbled, really not wanting to see the look on Tommy’s face.

Tommy was silent for a few seconds, taking in what his son had just said to him. Amelia Solomans, daughter of Alfie Solomans, his friend and foe. He honestly didn’t know how to feel about this, Alfie was a slimy piece of work, but they’d be on good terms recently, and maybe Charlie and Mia being an item will keep the peace between them longer. But god, if anything went wrong in that relationship, a war would break out.

“Do you love her?” Tommy asked simply, causing Charlie to look directly at him

“What?”

“Are you in love with Amelia Solomons?”

Charlie nodded a little “I am dad. I really, really love her”

Tommy nodded “Does Alfie know?”

“I don’t think so”

Tommy sighed “Well who am I to stand in the way of love, eh? I’ll get Alfie to come and visit, and we’ll discuss it together”

Charlie nodded a little, before looking back to his Uncle “So? Double date?”

John sighed “Alright fine. But I’m telling you Frankie, you hurt my baby, I’ll fucking hurt you”

“Noted” Frankie nodded 

-

“Absolutely not” John said to Tilly later that night, when she came downstairs dressed like a fucking whore “Go change, now”

“What’s wrong with this?” Tilly asked, pouting a little “I think it’s nice”

“Nice for a whore” John said blunty “Where did you even get that?”

“Aunt Lizzie gave it to me”

John scoffed “Course she fucking did, go and change, what’s wrong with that new dress I got you last week?”

“I forgot about that!” Tilly squealed excitedly, running back up to her room.

“Dad? Me and Joey are going out” Artie said, poking his head around the door

“Out where?”

“Just to see the boys” Artie replied, referring to his friends from school

“Alright, behave yourselves” John said, and Artie nodded as he and Joey legged it down to the end of the lane and out of sight. John frowned as he looked out the window, where Vinny and Hattie were playing football with some of his friends, but getting a little too far out of sight for his liking.

“Vinny! Hattie! You stay where I can fucking see you!” He called out the window

His kids looked back at the house and motioned for their friends to move closer, and John nodded and turned back, where he was met with a sad looking Elsie.

“What’s up with you my sweet girl?” John asked, tilting his head a little

“Can I go to Uncle Michael’s house?” She asked sweetly, but still with a sad voice

“Why?” 

“To play with Emmeline!” She said “Tilly’s going out, Artie and Joey are out, Hattie and Vinny are out, even Birdie’s next door playing with Eliza! I’m bored!”

John chuckled and picked up his daughter, spinning her around “You too cool to hang out with your old dad, eh?”

Elsie giggled, holding onto John for dear life “Nooo I’m not dad”

John laughed as he kissed her cheek and set her down “I’m only teasing, go on, get yourself down to Uncle Michael’s, I’ll keep an eye out the window and come get you later”

Elsie grinned “Thank you daddy!” She smiled happily as she left, and John watched out the window as she skipped a few houses down the lane to Michael and Gina’s house.

“Alright Uncle John” Charlie said as he appeared in the doorway, with a shorter, red-haired girl by his side, and Frankie.

John nodded at them “Alright boys” He looked at the girl “And you must be Mia, nice to meet ya”

She smiled sweetly “Nice to meet you too”

“Is she ready or is taking years again?” Charlie asked, referring to how long it takes Tilly to get herself ready for anything, honestly, the girl would be late to her own bloody funeral.

John shrugged “Give her a shout”

“Matilda Rose!! You ready?” Charlie shouted up the stairs in a teasing tone, knowing Tilly hated being called by her full name.

“Yes Charles Thomas!” Tilly called back “I’ll be two minutes!”

Charlie rolled his eyes and looked back at his uncle “What is she even doing?”

“Who knows” John replied “I’m also not sure I want to know”

“You heard anything about what’s happening in London?” Frankie asked, and John shook his head

“Not yet” John said, sighing “Should hear by tomorrow”

“What’s happening in London?” Mia questioned, looking up at Charlie

“Nothing for you to worry about” Charlie replied, causing Mia to frown

“You can tell me” 

Charlie sighed “Later, alright?”

Mia nodded “Alright”

Charlie turned to call up the stairs again “Tilly!! What’s going on?!”

“My zip’s stuck!” Tilly called back, sounding kind of panicked. She didn’t mean to keep them waiting, she didn’t want them to be annoyed at her and for there to be a bad vibe, she wanted tonight, her first ever date, to be absolutely perfect.  
Charlie looked back at Frankie and John, who just shrugged, causing Mia to roll her eyes “I can go help her, is that okay?”

“By all means” John said, gesturing towards the stairs “Second door on the right”

“Bloody women” Charlie said, shaking his head and lighting up a cigarette “Awfully quiet in here today”

“All the kids are out playing” John replied “I’m not gonna know what to do with myself once you’ve whisked Tilly off”

“Enjoy the peace and quiet” Charlie chuckled “It’s not like you get it very often”

“You make a good point” John replied, as the two girls came back downstairs.

“Ready?” Charlie asked, and they both nodded

“Back by 10” John said, reminding Tilly of her curfew “You best look after her”

“I will” Frankie said, wrapping an arm around Tilly’s shoulders as they left, and John leaned back in his seat and sighed, finding the new silence in his house oddly unnerving.

-

The date so far was going absolutely amazingly. Tilly was absolutely head over heels for Frankie, he made her laugh, they had things in common, and they talked each other’s ears off over dinner. Tilly also discovered she got along with Mia really well, and with Mia being 17, she was excited to have another girl around that’s similar to her age. They still had some time after they finished their dinner, so they decided to go for a walk, which is when the whole date crashed and burned.  
Tilly dropped her bag, and a gun came tumbling out of it, which she quickly bent down to pick up, hoping nobody had noticed, but of course, they did notice.

“Tilly what the fuck is that?!” Charlie snapped, causing Tilly to jump, which in turn meant she fired the gun, and the bullet just barely missed Mia.

“Matilda?!”

“I..” Tilly didn’t know what to say, she was so shocked and overwhelmed and a bit scared and worried and she just kind of froze.

Charlie shook his head and grabbed the gun from Tilly, taking the bullets out and shoving them in his pocket, before tucking the gun into his belt. He then grabbed Tilly by her upper arm, and without even thinking, dragged her into an alley, turned her around and bent her over so he was holding her around the waist so she couldn’t move, and started really going to town on her, spanking her, hard.

“What the fuck do you think you’re playing at Tilly?! Why the fuck do you have a gun?!” He said, not easing up on her at all.

It took Tilly a minute to process what was happening, before she started wildly trying to get out of her cousin’s grasp. “Charlie! What the fuck! You can’t do this! Get the fuck off of me!!”

“I can’t do this?” Charlie questioned, scoffing “You just almost fucking shot my girlfriend! If I were you I’d consider myself lucky that this is all I’m doing to you!”

“Charlie nooo!” Tilly cried, her backside rapidly getting too sore for her liking “I didn’t mean to!”

“You shouldn’t fucking have a gun at all!” Charlie spat “So fucking shut up and take it”

Frankie and Mia stood in the entrance to the alley, so that anyone who happened to be walking past wouldn’t be able to see what was happening. Seemed kind of pointless, because they would definitely be able to hear, but it might ease Tilly’s mind a bit if no one could see.

Tilly was sure that Charlie was never going to stop, and it wasn’t long before she was begging, screaming, crying, sobbing, and choking out apologies, but it didn’t seem like Charlie was going to slow down anytime soon.

“Charlie, love, I think she’s had enough” Mia said softly “No one got hurt, let’s just get her home”

Charlie shook his head, but reluctantly let Tilly go, and she just looked at Mia and Frankie, completely mortified, before taking off and running away back to Watery Lane.

“I’m sorry, I’ll meet you both in the pub” Charlie mumbled, before he took off after Tilly.

-

John was startled by the sound of his front door opening earlier than he’d expected it to, and frowned when he heard his crying daughter screaming ‘Piss off Charlie!’

He bolted up, and managed to grab her before she could run and disappear into her bedroom, and she just turned and started sobbing into his chest.

“What the fuck is going on?!” John asked, looking at Charlie

“H-He spanked me!” Tilly sobbed “In front of Frankie! He’s never gonna want to see me again! He’ll think I’m such a baby!”

Charlie shook his head “That’s what you’re worried about right now, really?” He scoffed “How about the fact that you were walking around with a fucking loaded firearm, and almost blew Mia’s fucking brains out!”

“You fucking what?!” John fumed, pulling Tilly away from him and holding her at arms length “Where did you get a fucking gun?!”

“From your drawer in your room….” Tilly mumbled, and John just shook his head in disbelief.

“Upstairs, now” John said, pushing her towards the stairs.

“Uncle John, I’m sorry if I overstepped but-”

“You don’t need to apologise Charlie” John said “You did the right thing”

Charlie nodded a little, and handed his uncle back the gun and the bullets “I don’t know why she took it”

“Probably in case she got attacked again” John mumbled, before sighing “Right, you get gone. Ain’t you got a pretty lady waiting for you?”

Charlie nodded and chuckled a little “Yeah, I have. See you tomorrow” he said, before he left off down the road.

John took a deep breath before making his way to Tilly’s room, where she’d thrown herself on the bed, sobbing.

“I’ve got no sympathy for you” John said, leaning in the doorway with an eyebrow raised “Charlie had absolutely every right to turn you across his knee in that situation. So what the fuck were you doing with a gun? I’ve taught you about guns, you know how fucking dangerous they are, so why on earth would you be so fucking stupid?!”

“I-I don’t know!” Tilly wailed “I-I was scared after the attack and I thought F-Frankie would-”

John cut her off “You took a gun out, so you could impress Frankie? No, I’m not buying it. My Tilly has more fucking braincells than that”

“The attack…” She mumbled 

“Still not an excuse. If you were scared you shouldn’t have gone, the solution was not to take my gun!” John walked over to the dressing table in Tilly’s room, grabbing her hairbrush, before going to sit on the bed and throwing the girl across her lap.

“Dad noo! Charlie already spanked me!”  
“I don’t care” John said, flipping up her dress and pulling down her underwear. He almost backed out of spanking her again when he saw what a thorough job Charlie had done on her, but he knew he had to drive this lesson home, so that she never made this mistake again “You could have killed someone tonight Tilly, you do understand that don’t you?”

Tilly nodded “I know, daddy”

“Good” John said, picking up the hairbrush and started spanking her, causing her to start freshly sobbing. Tilly barely got two spankings a month let alone two in one day, and there was apart of him that felt sorry for her, and the sounds of her sobs absolutely broke his heart, he just wanted to pick her up and give her a cuddle, but he knew that he couldn’t just let something this serious go.

He didn’t spank her for nearly as long as he’d planned to. Mind you, he definitely didn’t go easy on the poor girl, and by the time he’d stopped she was a limp, sobbing, very sorry teenager. John carefully pulled up her underwear and pulled her dress back down, and started to rub her back, wanting her to calm a little before he pulled her upright. It wasn’t long before he pulled her into his lap, and held her close to him while she sobbed into his chest. He rocked her gently and kissed the top of her head repeatedly, calming her down as if she were a small child. This went on for a while, and then John realised she’d fallen asleep on him, something she hadn’t done in years, and he couldn’t help but smile. He couldn’t bring himself to lay her down just yet, so he just sat and held her for a while, but he laid her in her bed eventually, knowing he had to wrestle his other kids into bed.


	6. Five

“Emmeline, if you don’t pack it in right now, you’ll not be having a birthday party” Michael warned to his daughter, who was mouthing off to Gina about something that had happened with her friends.

“Oh leave her alone” Gina said “She’s upset”

“You’re too soft on these bloody kids” Michael grumbled “No wonder they’re always running fucking rings around us”

“She needs to be able to express herself to us” Gina said, causing Michael to roll his eyes 

“She can express herself without being a rude little brat”

“What’s up with you today?” Gina asked, as she started playing with her husband’s hair “You’ve been miserable all morning”

Michael shook his head “Nothing, I just want a peaceful day off”  
“Let’s do something with the kids then” Gina suggested “They’ll probably behave themselves if we distract them with something they enjoy”

“And what do you suggest, my darling?” Michael asked, not hating the idea of spending some actual nice time with his kids

“Well, the funfair’s in town, why don’t we take them down there for a couple of hours?”

Michael nodded a little “I think Eddie’s a little too old for the funfair”

“Nonsense!” Gina exclaimed “You are never too old for the funfair!”

“Is that right?” Michael chuckled “Are you sure it’s not you that wants to go?”

“Pleassseeee can we go?” Gina asked, resting her head on Michael’s shoulder and looking up at him sweetly

Michael shook his head at his wife “Of course we can go to funfair”

“Brilliant!” Gina beamed “I’ll go tell the kids!”

Michael couldn’t help but chuckle at how child-like his wife was, but nevertheless, he got up and grabbed his coat and some money, ready for funfair to rob him fucking blind. He didn’t mind though, so long as his family were happy.

“Do I have to go? I was gonna go out” Eddie asked, looking unimpressed

“Yes, if I have to go, then so do you”

“Well in that case why can’t mum just take Emmeline and Felix, and we just don’t go?”

“Because we’re having a family day, Eddie” Michael said “It’s been too long since the five of us have had a nice day out. You can see your friends any day”

“But dad-”

“Eddie, we’re gonna have a nice day. Don’t piss me off and make me tan your arse before we go. You’re coming with us and you’re gonna enjoy yourself and that’s final”

“Funfair! Funfair! Funfair! Funfair!” Felix chanted as he charged towards the front door excitedly, causing Michael to laugh and catch him

“Not without your coat, Felix. Go and grab it please” He said, and once again Felix went running off.  
Michael frowned when he saw Emmeline, grabbing her chin to make her look at him “What’ve you got on your face? Is that lipstick?”

Emmeline pulled her face away from her father’s hand “Just a little bit” She mumbled

“Why?” Michael asked

Gina rolled her eyes “Michael, she’s a growing girl, she just wanted to try a bit of make-up”

“She’s thirteen, she doesn’t need make-up” Michael frowned “She’s beautiful without it”

“And she knows that” Gina said, as she put her own coat on “But all girls her age start trying these things, it’s not like she’s wearing a lot”

Michael sighed but nodded, unimpressed that his daughter was growing up “Very well” He said “Are we ready to go?”

“Can I ride on your back?” Felix asked, looking up at his father “Pleaaasseeee?”

“What is it with the long ‘please’s’ today?” He chuckled, leaning down a little for Felix to get on his back “Jump on”

And with that, the family headed off down to the funfair.

-

“Uncle Michael!” Michael heard a little voice calling his name once they arrived at the fair, and he turned to see Eliza running towards him with all the speed her little legs could muster, with Finn running behind her.

“Eliza Jane!” He called after her, eventually catching her just a few feet in front of the Gray family “You can’t be running off like that!” He scolded her, giving her a smack, causing her to frown.

“It’s Uncle Michael!” She pouted, pointing to her Uncle

Finn shook his head “I don’t care who it is, you can’t run away from me like that, alright?”

Eliza nodded “Okay daddy”

“That’s my girl” Finn said, kissing the top of her head, before standing upright, scooping her up with him “Fancy seeing you all here”

“Gina wanted a nice family day” Michael said “I think she’s more excited to be here than the kids”

“Hey!” Gina said, slapping his arm playfully 

“Odette’s the same” Finn laughed “She over taking Archie on the big wheel, this one was too scared go on it, weren’t ya?”

Eliza nodded a little “It’s too big”

“Maybe next year eh?” Michael said to his niece, who nodded happily

“Dad! Can we do the can game?!” Felix pleaded, pointing over to the stall where you had to knock down 6 cans to win a stuffed animal.

“Alright Alright” Michael said, allowing himself to be dragged off by his son “See you later Finn!”

“Bye Uncle Michael!!” Eliza called, as Finn carried her back over to the big wheel to wait for Odette and Archie.

“Right you can have 3 goes” Michael said to Felix as they reached the can game, before looking at his two other kids “Do you both want a go?”

“I do!” Emmeline said happily “I’m so good at this game!”

Michael nodded and looked at Eddie, who just shook his head. He sighed but nodded, and took some money out of his pocket.

“You’re not going to offer me a go?” Gina asked, pretending to be offended

Michael rolled his eyes playfully, and handed her some coins “Of course you can have a go, my love”

Michael stood back and watched gladly as his kids and wife laughed while playing the game, but he couldn’t help but frown at Eddie, who looked like he’d rather be anywhere but where he was.

“Something wrong, Eddie?” He asked, and Eddie shrugged 

“Just wanna go home”

“You can talk to me, y’know” Michael said, and Eddie looked at him like he had two heads

“No I can’t”  
Michael frowned “And why can’t you?”

“Because whenever I try to tell you anything you just end up yelling at me for being stupid or not being man enough or not doing things exactly the way you want me to do them! You’re not the easiest person to talk to, dad”

This hit Michael hard. He knew he was hard on his kids, he didn’t take any shit from them, but he didn’t realise he’d gotten to the point where they felt that they couldn’t talk to him.

“I’m sorry” Michael said, sincerely “I’ll do better, but I don’t want you to feel like you can’t come to me. With anything. Alright?”

Eddie nodded a little, unsure of how to respond to his father apologising to him.

“Anything you wanna tell me?” Michael asked

“Later” Eddie mumbled “At home”

Michael nodded a little. “Alright, well, you cheer up then, is there anything you want to do?”

Eddie looked around the fair, and nodded his head towards a ride that Michael hadn’t seen before, it must have been new for this year. It went high in the air and spun around so fast you could barely see it, and Michael was sure he saw the bloody thing go upside-down.

“You’re gonna be the death of me, boy” He mumbled, looking back at his wife and two youngest children

“I won!” Emmeline shouted happily, as she was handed a stuffed monkey “Told you I was good at it!”

“I didn’t win” Felix said sadly, tears welling up in his eyes.

“Aye, none of that” Michael said, crouching down to his son’s eye level “There’s plenty of games here to try, I’m sure you’ll win one of them, eh?”

Felix sniffled back his tears and smiled a little, nodded at his dad

“Good lad” Michael nodded and stood back up, and Felix immediately took his hand and started to try and drag him off somewhere else “Woah, hang on Felix, Eddie wants to go on that ride” Michael nodded towards the death trap ride that he hated the look of.

“I want to go on it too!!” Emmeline smiled, looking at her dad hopefully, and he just nodded at her.

“I think Felix is a bit too young for that one” Gina said “Why don’t I take him to go and play this game and we’ll meet you after?”

“Alright, love” Michael said, as he walked towards the ride with Emmeline and Eddie.

“You sure you’re gonna be alright on this one dad? It goes quite fast, don’t want your teeth to fall out” Eddie teased, causing Michael to playfully get him in a headlock.

“I’m not quite that old yet my boy” He chuckled, before letting him go as they went on the ride.

Turns out Eddie was right, Michael was too old for that ride, and Gina couldn’t help but laugh at his pale face as they walked back over to her.

“You’re alright?” She asked

“I think I’m too old for the funfair, my love” He replied, causing her to giggle.

“Oh look, there’s John with Birdie, doing calm things.. I might just stand over there with him… calmly…” He said, walking away from his wife and kids, who were already getting stuck into games.

“Just you and Birdie today?” Michael asked, walking over to his cousin.

“No the others are here, the ran off as soon as we got here” John replied, shaking his head “I’m surprised you got Eddie here”

“He wasn’t happy about it, but he seems to be getting into the spirit of things” He said, looking over to see Eddie helping Felix cheat at the game he was playing. “I heard Arthur found the boys that hurt Tilly”

John nodded “He did indeed. Apparently they were paid by a man called Jones. Arthur’s bringing him back with him”

“Let me guess, you’re finishing that job off?”

“You guess correctly” John said, nodding “Absolute scumbag, messing with my daughter”

“Well, no one makes that mistake twice” Michael said

“No one lives long enough too”

“How are things with her and Frankie? I heard their date went sour”

John shrugged “She’s avoiding him, reckons he’ll think she’s a baby and not want to see her anymore”

“Has he said anything?” Michael asked

“He doesn’t think she’s got anything to be embarrassed about, everyone’s been on the wrong end of a smacked arse” John shook his head “Bloody women, who knows what goes through their heads”

Michael laughed “You can say that again”

“Excuse me, I don’t mean to interrupt, but does this little one belong to you?” They heard a pretty, slightly country accent say.

John and Michael turned to see a blonde woman, with a young face and a sweet smile, holding Birdie, who they’d not even realised had toddled off.

“Oh fucking hell, uh yeah, she’s mine” John said, taking his child off the woman

“I’m Harriet” She smiled 

“John”

It was at this point Michael tapped John on the shoulder, and nodded a goodbye, as he went back to join his own family.

“It’s nice to meet you John, and uh…”

“Oh this little rascal is Birdie, who knows better than to wander off” He said, frowning at his daughter, causing her to pout and bury her face in his shoulder.

“Well, that’s a very pretty name for a very pretty girl” Harriet smiled “It’s nice to see a man out with his child, it’s not something you see very often”

“Well I don’t really have much choice, it’s either take ‘em out or keep ‘em locked in all day” John chuckled “And that makes for one stressed dad”

“Daaadddd! Vinny fell over!!” Hattie called over 

John looked over his shoulder “Well tell him to bloody get up!” He called back, shaking his head, before looking back at Harriet “I should go, but it was nice to meet ya”

-

“What was it you wanted to tell me?” Michael asked Eddie, when they got home later that day

Eddie shook his head “It doesn’t matter”

“Edward…”

Eddie sighed “I’m seeing someone”

“Oh yeah?” Michael smiled “Who’s the unlucky girl?”

Eddie shook his head again “It’s not a girl”

Michael frowned “What?”

“His name is Sam”

“His name” Michael repeated “You’re seeing a bloke?”

Eddie nodded a little.

“Do people know about this? Have you been seen with him in public?” Michael asked, raising his voice a little

“Dad I-”

“Do people know, Eddie?!”

Eddie shook his head “No, dad, no one knows”

“You best fucking keep it that way too” Michael spat, before looking over to Gina “You hear that? He’s seeing a fucking bloke!”

“I know” Gina said softly

“Our Eddie, seeing a fucking bloke!”

“I know!” Gina shouted back at him “I’ve known for a while”

“Oh, oh you’ve known for a while have you? So why did no one think to fucking tell me?!” 

“Because you’d react like this!” Eddie shouted “More worried about fucking reputation than anything fucking else!”

“Oi! You don’t get to speak to me like that boy”  
“Oh fuck you” Eddie spat, leaving the house and slamming the door behind him.

“Well that went well” Gina said, shaking her head at Michael “Regardless of how you feel, Michael, he is our son”

“Hmm” Michael said, pouring himself a whisky and drinking it quickly “I’m going to the pub”

“We should talk-”

“Pub” Michael repeated, before he left.

\- 

“Is he home yet?” Michael asked when he got home that night

“In his room” Gina said, and Michael nodded as he went upstairs and into Eddie’s room.

“Dad I’m not in the mood…”

“Tough” Michael said, sitting down “You happy with this Sam bloke?”

Eddie nodded 

“And no one else knows?”

He shook his head, and Michael nodded.

“Alright” He sighed

“Alright?”

“Eddie, it’s not my reputation I’m worried about here, it’s your bloody life. No one outside of the family can know, alright? Cause if word gets out then, well, if you’re happy with this Sam bloke then I can get over it, what I won’t be able to get over is finding you dead down an alley, You hear me? You see him in private and only in private” Michael explained, and Eddie nodded

“Thank you” He mumbled

“Get some sleep” Michael said, sighing as he left the room.


	7. Six

John woke up in the morning and rubbed his eyes, sighing when he saw that his four youngest kids had climbed into bed with him during the night. Tilly walked past his bedroom door and looked at him, and couldn’t help but giggle when she saw him squished in between the four children.

“Did I miss something?” John asked

“Thunderstorm” Tilly answered, and John just nodded, before laying his head back on the pillow, deciding that he definitely wasn’t getting up yet.

“Aunt Polly!” Tilly squealed from the top of the stairs, before she went running down, causing the rest of the kids to follow closely behind.

“Fucking hell” John mumbled, pulling his covers up over his head no that there were no kids in his bed, and closing his eyes again.

“John Shelby get your arse out of bed!” Was the next thing he heard, and he rolled his eyes as Aunt Pol came into the room “Honestly is this what you do, lay in bed and leave poor Tilly to get the kids ready? You need a good woman here John”

“Why does everyone think I’m so incapable of raising my own fucking kids?” John snapped “What’re you even doing here Pol?”

“Well it’s nice to see you too” She said, rolling her eyes “Can’t a woman come to visit her family?”

“Michael’s house is two doors down” John grumbled, causing Polly to lean over and clip him round the ear “Ow! Pol!”

“Get up!” 

“Oh fucking hell alright!” John said, climbing out of bed “Can’t a man have 10 minutes peace in his own fucking house”

“Not when you’re a Shelby” Polly laughed “I came to look after the kids”

“Why?”

“Tilly wants to go out with her friends” Polly said as they both went downstairs 

“Oh is that right?” John replied “First I’ve heard of it”

Tilly rolled her eyes “Am I not allowed a day off?”

“Where’re you going?” John asked, and Tilly shrugged

“I think just down to the park, then Frankie’s taking me out for lunch”

“Oh, you’re talking to him again, are you?” 

Tilly nodded and smiled, clearly smitten with him “Yeaaaahh”

“Right” John said “Well in future it’d be nice if you could run your plans past me”

“Aunt Polly said it was okay” Tilly said

John shook his head “Aunt Polly isn’t your dad, I am”

Tilly rolled her eyes “Whatever”

John frowned “Attitude, Tilly”

She sighed “Sorry”

John nodded “Right, I best be off”

“Can’t you stay?” Vinny asked, looking up at him

“I’ve got work to do” John said, ruffling his hair “Be good for Aunt Pol, I can guarantee her hairbrush hurts more than my hand”

And with that, he left and made his way to work.

-

“You fucking what?!” John fumed at the news that Finn had taken it upon himself to kill Jones, a job that everyone knew was his “What’d you fucking do that for?!” 

“He just wouldn’t shut up” Finn shrugged “So I made him shut up”

John didn’t know what came over him, but the next thing he knew he had Finn against the wall, holding a gun to his head, and if anyone knows the Shelby’s, they don’t point guns at each other.

“John what the fuck are you doing!?” Finn shouted, trying to push John off of him

“That’s what I’d like to know” Tommy said as he walked in with Arthur, with Arthur immediately making a B line to pull John away from Finn.

“He fucking shot Jones!” John shouted “That wasn’t his fucking place!”

“No, it wasn’t” Tommy said, shooting Finn a ‘look’ “But that doesn’t mean you pull a fucking gun on him John!”

John just shook his head as he lit a cigarette “Of course, little ole Finn can do no fucking wrong”

“John what’s wrong with you today?” Arthur asked “Pull your head in brother”

“Look I’m sorry for overstepping but-” Finn started, only to be cut off by Tommy.

“Yeah, you will be” He said, shaking his head “You two aren’t fucking kids anymore!”

“Well no shit Tommy” John rolled his eyes

“So why do I still have to treat you like kids?”

“What’s that supposed to mean?” Finn asked, only to be met with a look from Tommy that he was all too familiar with.

“You know exactly what that means, Finn” 

Finn scoffed “You ain’t serious, you can’t- Arthur, tell Tommy he’s gone fucking crazy”

Arthur shook his head “I’ve gotta agree with Tommy this time”

“Oh fucks sake Arthur!” John snapped, kicking at the desk “This is fucking ridiculous”

“So is walking in to see one brother’s disobeyed ordered and another’s holding a gun to his fucking head” Tommy said “We’ve got enough on our plates without you two fighting”

“Fucking nice one Finn” John said, looking over to his brother

“Oh right so this is my fault yeah?” 

“Yes it’s fucking your fault Finn!”

“Enough!” Tommy bellowed “If you’re gonna fight like kids I’m gonna treat you like fucking kids, get out back, both of you”

Finn cursed as he went out, kicking the door open before he went through it.  
“John” Tommy said, holding out the razor strap “Take this”

John sighed as he took it from Tommy and followed Finn out the back.

“Are you actually going through with this Tommy?” Arthur asked “Or you just trying to scare them?”

“Oh I’m fucking going through with it” Tommy said “You’d do the same if it were me holding a gun to John, would you not?”

Arthur nodded “Yeah, ‘spose I would”

“Then it’s settled” Tommy said, taking a deep breath before going out the back with his brother’s. “Finn, you first. Hands on the wall”

“Yeah I know the drill Tommy” Finn muttered

“Well get on with it then, we haven’t got all day” 

Finn sucked his teeth as he put his hands on the wall, leaning over, and Tommy took the strap off of John.

“Why are we here, Finn?” Tommy asked, causing Finn to roll his eyes.

“Cause I disobeyed orders”

“Right” Tommy said, nodding once before laying the first smack. Finn reacted exactly how he did as a kid, immediately jumping up and throwing his hands to protect his backside.

“Ow! Fuckin’ hell Tommy”

“Get back” Tommy said “Don’t move again unless you want to lose your trousers”

“Fuck sake” Finn mumbled as he lent back over, and Tommy continued his strapping. Finn was absolutely mortified that this was happening again, for the first time in years. But it wasn’t long before he completely forgot about his dignity, and just wanted the pain in his backside to stop fucking growing. The instant burning sensation that came with the strap was not something he’d missed, and certainly not something he thought he’d be feeling again as an adult.

“Alright” Tommy said eventually, resting the strap down at his side “It’s done”

Finn nodded, not moving for a few seconds, before he stood up and turned away from his brothers to wipe his eyes, feeling like a naughty little boy again.

“Get back in” Tommy said, nodding towards the door “John, take his place”

Tommy patted Finn on the back as he went past him to go back inside, and John stepped forward ready to lean over.

“Take those off” Tommy said, gesturing to John’s trousers.

“Tommy what the fuck? You didn’t make Finn take his off”

“Finn disobeyed orders, you put a loaded weapon to his fucking head” Tommy explained through gritted teeth “So you’re getting this bare”

“Wasn’t gonna shoot him” John mumbled

“I’m losing my patience” Tommy said “Let’s not make this worse”

“Fucks sake” John said, doing as Tommy told him to do before getting into position. Unlike Finn, John was determined to take this strapping with some of his dignity left intact, but of course he hissed when the first slap was laid, and the second, and the third, and well, you get the picture. 

But it seems John and Tommy both had a very different idea of how this strapping was going to go. John assumed Tommy would give him a few licks, make him apologise to Finn, and they could get on with their day without too much fuss. Tommy on the other hand was determined to make this message stick, as years ago John held a gun to Arthur, and clearly the spanking he got then wasn’t enough. Tommy could also see right through John, knowing he was trying to keep a brave face, and Tommy wasn’t one to stop until a lesson was clearly learnt. So he went on and on and on, and slowly, too slowly for Tommy’s liking, John’s reactions to the strap got more and more, and by the time he was done, John was limp up against the wall, sobbing his heart out, just waiting for Tommy to stop. Which he did.

“John, you okay?” Tommy asked, and frowned when John didn’t respond “John?”

John just sniffed, before pulling up his trousers and turning to face Tommy “It should have been me, Tommy. That scumbag hurt my little girl and fucking Finn got the last word. It should have been fucking me!!”

Tommy said nothing, but pulled his brother close to him, and to his surprise, John rested his head on Tommy’s shoulder and broke down “It should have been me”

“I know, John boy, I know” Tommy said “But the main thing is that Tilly’s okay and Jones is no longer a problem, alright? Bigger picture, yeah?”

“Yeah” John sniffed, before stepping back from Tommy and using his sleeve to wipe his face, which Tommy just rolled his eyes to.  
“Come on brother” Tommy said “Lets get a fucking drink and get back to work”


	8. Seven

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This one's a bit long lol sorry I got carried away! But I hope you like it! I am actually loving writing this story at the minute so I really hope other's are enjoying it too!

“I heard what happened today” Polly said disapprovingly as John got home that night, and he just rolled his eyes.

“Not in front of the kids, Pol” 

“Dadddy! Aunt Polly said you got into trouble today” Vinny said, running over to him

“Did she now?” John said, shaking his head at Polly “Well daddy’s a grown up and what happens at work is none of Aunt Polly’s bloody business”

“She said Uncle Tommy was mad”

“Uncle Tommy’s always mad” John replied

“Nuh-uh! At my birthday he was happy!” Vinny said proudly, causing John to chuckle

“Well you’ve got him wrapped around your little finger haven’t you? The rest of us could do with some of that magic, now go on, go and play”

Vinny ran off and John poured himself a drink before glaring at Polly “What exactly did you tell the kids?”

Polly rolled her eyes “Well not that you got your arse smacked by your brother like a naughty little boy, but they overheard Michael when he came to tell me, and they were asking questions so I just said you and Tommy had a little argument and that Tommy wasn’t very happy”

John nodded a little “Is Tilly home yet?”

“No, but she’ll be home for dinner”

John frowned “She’s been out all day?”

“Oh for christ’s sake John” Polly sighed “She’s a young girl in love, of course she’s been out all day, and I’m sure she’d be out all night if you’d let her”

John scoffed “In her dreams”

“You’ll need to let her go one day”

“Not today though” He said, lighting a cigarette “Were the kids good?”

“Little angels”

John titled his head “My kids? Little angels?”

“Yes John, if you actually spent some time with them you’d know that” 

“Oh fucking hell Pol I do spend time with them! They’re just little shits when I spend time with them”

It was at this moment that Hattie walked into the room sobbing, and John looked over and frowned “What’s up with you my girl?”

Hattie just sniffled and pulled up her skirt a little to reveal a grazed and slightly bloody knee. John sighed and walked over to her and knelt down to her level.

“Now, I know you ain’t making all this fuss over a grazed knee, are you? Not my Hattie” He wiped the tears from her face and she wrapped her arms around his neck, and he kissed her head, picking her up with him as he stood.

“Can’t even give the girl a bit of sympathy” Polly said, shaking her head

“Oh just piss off Pol!” John snapped “Don’t come in here and tell me everything I’m doing wrong with my own fucking kids, we’re doing just fine”

“John, the poor girl’s just come in crying-”

“And she’s fine” John snapped “You’re alright aren’t ya, my girl?”

Hattie nodded and lifted her head off John’s shoulder to look at Polly “Stop being mean to daddy”

John chuckled “Well that’s got you told hasn’t it”

Polly shook her head “You know what fine! If you think you’ve got it so good and so under control then I’ll go and stay with Michael and spend time with my grandchildren”

John nodded “You go do that”

“Byeee Aunt Polly” Hattie said, and John couldn’t help but laugh as Polly just sighed and left.

“Uncle John!” Minnie ran in out of nowhere and immediately attached herself to him “Can I stay here for a while?”  
John frowned “We’re about to have dinner Minnie, what’s up?”

“Mum and Dad and Billy are arguing again” 

“What about this time?” John asked, looking down at his niece

Minnie shrugged “Probably Billy doing something stupid”

“Right” John sighed “Well you can stay but you’ve got to help with dinner, Tilly should be back any minute”

Minnie let go of John and he tried to put Hattie down, but she was still clinging onto him with no sign of letting go.

“Is dinner read- What’s she doing here?” Joey said as he walked in, and pulled a face when he saw Minnie.

“Oh fuck of Joey” Minnie said, rolling her eyes

“Mind your bloody language Minnie” John said, shaking his head “Joey, where’s Artie?”

Joey shrugged “He was fighting with the boys down the road”

“Of course he bloody is” John sighed as he heard Birdie crying from somewhere in the house “Hattie, love, you’re gonna have to get down so I can go get your sister”

Hattie shook her head, and held onto him even tighter, causing him to sigh again.

“I’ll get Birdie” Minnie offered, before disappearing to go and find the toddler.

Tilly walked into the house with Frankie, giggling about something, before turning to look at John “Can Frankie stay for dinner? Also Artie’s down the road with a black eye a bloody lip”

“Yes Frankie can stay for dinner, will someone please go and drag Artie in! And where’s Elsie and Vinny?” 

“Elsie’s upstairs, Vinny was playing with his trains” Hattie mumbled, not moving her head from it’s spot on her dad's shoulder.

“I’ll go and get Artie” Frankie said 

“Thank you” John said as Frankie walked out the door, and he sighed “Tilly, can you go and finish up dinner please? Minnie will help you”

“I’m dealing with Birdie!” Minnie argued, walking in carrying the child

“Take Birdie with you, she loves thinking she can cook” John replied

“Fuck sake, fine” Minnie mumbled, as she turned to go to the kitchen

“Minnie May Shelby, watch your fucking mouth, I ain’t gonna tell you again” 

Minnie didn’t say anything as she stomped into the kitchen with Tilly, and Frankie came back in with Artie in tow. John sighed when he saw the state of his son, but didn’t say anything and just pointed to the stairs, and Artie just nodded as he went upstairs to clean himself up before dinner. John took a deep breath, satisfied that everyone was where they should be, and he sat down, moving Hattie so that she was in his lap, and winced as he sat down, hoping that nobody noticed. But Joey definitely did.

“Are you okay dad?” He asked, taking a seat next to him

“Yeah I’m fine Joey, be a good lad and go get me and Frankie a drink, eh?”

Joey frowned “You made the same face that Artie makes after you’ve belted him” He said as he got up and poured two whiskeys.

John shook his head “I’m just tired from work, it’s been a tough day”

Joey gave a glass to Frankie and one to John “Can I have one?”

“No”

He sighed and sat back down “You definitely pulled the spanking face”

John raised an eyebrow at the boy “You’ll be pulling the spanking face if you don’t leave it alone”

“Did you get spanked?” He asked, genuinely curious as to if that could actually happen to his dad.

John sighed, not wanting to lie, but also not wanting to admit to his kids that their uncle had taken him out back and strapped him, just like when he was a kid “Yes Joey” He said after a while “I was spanked”

“Why?”

“Because I broke the rules”

“I thought you said the rules don’t apply to you because they’re your rules” Joey said, causing John to get frustrated, but he knew his son didn’t mean any harm by the conversation.

“That’s true when we’re at home, when I'm at work I have to follow rules and if the rules are broken there’s consequences. I’m just lucky that Uncle Tommy’s my boss so he won’t sack me”

“I’d rather get sacked than spanked” Joey shrugged, causing John to roll his eyes

“If I got sacked we’d have no food, we’d have to move a smaller house that isn’t as nice, I wouldn’t be able to buy you all nice things, and we’d be living a lot worse off than we are now, you lot don’t realise how lucky you are, a sore arse is nothing compared to living off scraps, alright?”

Joey nodded “Alright dad”

“Dinner’s ready!” Tilly called from the kitchen, and all the kids went running in, apart from Hattie, who was still refusing to let go of John.

“You alright girlie?” John asked, looking down at Hattie. She just shrugged and buried her face in his chest, and he sighed “If something’s wrong you need to tell me babygirl, I know you’re not acting like this over a sore knee”

Hattie sniffled and looked up at him “I don’t feel good”

John frowned and put a hand on her forehead, and got worried when he realised she was burning up.

“Dad! Dinner’s getting cold!” Elsie called from the kitchen

“You lot eat! I’ll be there soon” He called back, and sighed at Hattie

“Let’s have dinner then get you to bed eh?”

Hattie nodded a little and John carried her through to the kitchen, and she pouted when John peeled her off of him to sit her down, before taking a seat himself. He scanned the room, surprised that no one was arguing. Tilly, Frankie and Minnie were chatting away about something, Artie was telling Joey about how he won the fight he had, Elsie was shoveling food in, eager to get back to whatever she was doing upstairs, Vinny was listening in on Artie and Joey’s conversation, and talking about the fights he’ll win when he’s older, and Birdie was sat feeding herself, food all over her face and her clothes, but she was happy, so John couldn’t complain. Hattie was picking at her food, causing John to worry, she was never one to turn down food, but if she was ill she wouldn’t tell her off for it. He finally relaxed a little and ate his own dinner, happy that his kids were happy, and reassured that he was doing a good job, regardless of what Polly thinks.  
“Vinny, if you fucking kick me again I’ll kick you back!” Minnie snapped all of a sudden, causing John to shoot her look. He shook his head, pissed off that a nice dinner had been ruined, and he stood up, and pointed to the living room.

“Get in there, now”

“I’m eating” Minnie replied, sass in her voice, pissing John off more.

“I don’t care” John said “Get in there now before I put you over my knee right here in front of everyone”

“Uncle John…. I-”

“No Minnie” He cut her off “I’ve warned you twice about your mouth since you’ve been here, I told you there wouldn’t be a third, get in there now, this is your last chance”

Minnie bit her lip, and she was clearly embarrassed as she got up from the dinner table and made her way into the front room, where she sat down and waited for John. John grabbed a wooden spoon off the counter, told everyone else to carry on, before going into the front room himself and closing the door behind him.

“I’m really sorry Uncle John” Minnie said, looking up at him sadly “I won’t do it again”

“No you won’t, and I’m gonna make sure of it” John said, taking a seat “Come here”

“Please don’t…. Dad will go mental if he knows I got in trouble here”

“You should have thought about that before you got mouthy” John said simply “I won’t ask you again Minnie, let's get this done”

Minnie moaned but walked over to John, who promptly pulled her over his lap and pulled her dress up, and started spanking her with his hand relentlessly, wanting to get it done sooner rather than later. Minnie tried to stay quiet, she didn’t want people to think she was a baby, so she always tried to stay tough when she got spanked, but it never really lasted very long, as after a while she started kicking her feet into the floor, and a while after that, she was mumbling apologies and asking him to stop. John just sighed as he picked up the wooden spoon.

“Why’re we here, Minnie?”

Minnie sniffled and groaned, she always hated when she had to answer questions like this during a spanking.

“Cause I was swearing” She said sadly.

“Are you an adult?”

“No”

“So are you allowed to be swearing?” He asked, looking down at her expectantly

She shook her head “No, Uncle John, I ain’t allowed to be swearing”

“Would you be swearing like this if your parents was here?”

“No” She mumbled

“So do you think that I would be putting up with that language from you?”

Minnie started crying, not wanting the wooden spoon to come but also wanting it to be over, and now feeling bad for playing up for her uncle. “No, I’m really sorry”

John nodded, and turned the wooden spoon in his hand a few times, before he started laying smacks with it, and she started howling from the first smack. If this was one of John’s own kids, he’d be spanking their bare arse, but he didn’t feel right doing that with his nieces and nephews, even though his brothers gave him full permission to give them a good hiding on the bare if they needed it. He gave her 28 smacks with the spoon, double her age, before he stopped and pulled her up for a cuddle. She settled in his lap and leaned into his chest as she cried, muttering apologies and promising she won’t swear anymore.

“You best not be swearing anymore” John said as he held her “Cause if I hear that language from you again you’ll be back over my knee with a bar of soap in your mouth, you hear me?”

She nodded and wiped her eyes “I promise, I won’t do it no more”

John smiled and kissed the top of her head “That’s my girl”

“Are you gonna tell my dad?” She asked nervously, looking up at him

“As long as you behave yourself, I don’t think he has to know”

“Thank you” Minnie said, leaning up to kiss his cheek

“Let’s go and finish dinner, yeah?”

“Okay” Minnie said, getting up off his lap and going back through to the kitchen, where everyone was cleaning up their plates, and Tilly was fussing over the mess Birdie had made.

“I’m gonna get her in the bath” She said to John, who shook his head  
“I’ll bath her” He said, and Tilly shook her head

“You need to go make sure Hattie’s okay” She said “She ran out while throwing up down herself, it wasn’t pretty”

John sighed and nodded “Alright, I’ll go find her, you alright sorting out these lot for me?”

Tilly nodded “Frankie will help me”

“Alright” John said, lighting a cigarette before going to find Hattie, who was in the bathroom crying while covering in her own vomit. He looked at the scene before quickly darting into her room to grab her night dress, and running back to the bathroom. “Come on darlin, let’s get you cleaned up aye?”

“I made a mess” Hattie mumbled, trying to wipe the vomit off her dress.

“Don’t you worry about that, it’s nothing that can’t be cleaned up” John said, kneeling down with her “Arms up”

John quickly helped her get changed, and he wiped her down with a damp cloth. It broke his heart how tired and weak she looked, when she was usually full of energy and jumping around like a mad woman.

“Come on” John said, standing up and picking her up, before carrying her to her bed and laying her down “You want me to stay?”

She nodded, grabbing onto his hand, and he sat down on the bed, stroking her hair and reassuring her that it was okay until she fell asleep. He sighed heartedly. He was doing a good job, he knows it.


	9. Eight

“Dad! M’going to Uncle Finn’s!” Vinny called out from by the front door

“Take Birdie with you!” John called back “She can play with Eliza for a while”

“Daaaaad” Vinny whined “The girls are no fun!”

John shook his head and walked to the hall, and raised an eyebrow at his son “I’m not asking you to play with her, I’m just asking you to take her with you so she can play with Eliza while you play with Archie”

“But-”

“Or you can just stay here” John shrugged “Your choice”

“Fine” Vinny said, grabbing Birdie’s hand and walking out the door, and John nodded before going back to the kitchen, where the rest of his kids, and Minnie who was still there for some reason, finished up their breakfast, which was jam on toast that he’d made, as Tilly had decided to stay in bed.

John frowned as Frankie walked in from upstairs “You been here all night?”

Frankie nodded “Yeah” He said, grabbing a piece of toast and leaning against the counter as he took a bite.

“In Tilly’s room?” John asked, eyebrow raised, and Frankie shook his head

“I was in the spare” 

John nodded a little “Where is Tilly?”

“In bed, she’s sick as a dog, I reckon she’s got whatever Hattie’s got”

“Fucking fantastic” John muttered, shaking his head.

“Want some toast?” Charlie offered Mia, passing her a slice before taking one for himself

“Yes please come in, help yourself” John said sarcastically, causing Charlie to give him a cheesy grin.

“We’ve got some news Uncle John”

“Oh yeah, what’s that?” John said, lighting a cigarette

“We’re getting married” Charlie said, nodding his head towards Mia, who excitedly held up her hand with her engagement ring on it

“Well congratulations” John smiled “Welcome to the family, Mia, and good luck, you’re gonna need it” 

Mia just laughed as Elsie and Minnie started hounding her about how Charlie asked her and how romantic it must have been.

“Well, this calls for a night out” Frankie said, grinning

“I agree” John said “We’ll leave the kids to the women later and go to the pub”

“Oh so is that how it’s gonna be now?” Mia said, looking up from her conversation with the girls “I’m left at home with the children while you go out drinking with the boys?”

“See, she’s a Shelby already” John joked, causing Mia to roll her eyes.

“Going out!” Tilly yelled as she darted past the kitchen

“Where are you-” John started, but the front door had slammed before he finished his sentence “I thought she was sick?”

Frankie shrugged “So did I”

“You need to be keeping a closer eye on your woman” Charlie said “You won’t see Mia pulling that shit with me”

“Is that right?” Frankie asked, eyebrow raised “Where is she right now?”

Charlie looked around the room and rolled his eyes to see that Mia had vanished, probably having been dragged off somewhere, and John couldn’t help but laugh 

“If a woman’s brave enough to put up with us Shelby men, she sure as hell ain’t gonna listen to us” 

“Mum didn’t listen to you?” Artie said, looking over 

John shook his head “Not fucking once, drove me up the bloody wall”

“Then why were you with her?” He asked

“Because wouldn’t life be boring if you didn’t have a woman who gave you a bit of lip” John chuckled

“And Esme?” Artie asked, causing John to sigh

“Esme didn’t listen to anyone, you should know that” 

Artie just nodded before standing up “I’m going out”

“No more fucking fighting” John said 

“Yeah alright dad” Artie said, rolling his eyes as he left.

“Artie wait!” Joey called out, running after him, causing John to roll his eyes.

“Fucking kids”

“Dad said he’s got a job for Tilly and Artie when the kids go back to school tomorrow” Charlie said “No idea what it is, but he reckons he can keep them occupied”

“Good, Artie could do with something to keep him focused” John replied “Not sure how Tilly’s gonna feel about being put to work though”

“Charlie, clear off” Polly said, walking into the house with Tilly in tow “Frankie, sit down”

“Nice to see you too Aunt Pol” Charlie said, rolling his eyes as he went off to find Mia.

“What’s going on?” John asked, glancing at Tilly who was standing nervously in the corner, biting her nails.

“Tilly’s pregnant” Polly said, causing both John and Frankie to raise an eyebrow

“Frankie, mate, I swear to fucking god-” John started, but Polly cut him off 

“It’s not Frankie’s”

“Then who..?”

“It seems beating her half to death wasn’t all those boys did to her that night” Polly explained “I’ve explained to her that I know a woman who can get rid of it if she wants, and if she does want to keep it then…”

“Then I’ll marry her and raise it as my own” Frankie said, causing all of them to look at him in shock

“W-what?” Tilly mumbled from the corner, where she was now crying

“C’mere” Frankie said, taking Tilly’s hand as she got closer and pulling her into his lap “What did I say to you on our date?”

“You and me, no matter what” Tilly mumbled, looking at him

Frankie nodded, wiping her eyes with his thumb “I meant that. So if you don’t want to get rid of this baby, then we’ll get married and be the best damn parents we can be. You and me, no matter what”

“You’re a good man, Frankie” John said “Tilly, do you know what you want to do?”  
Tilly shook her head “I don’t know, I- Dad, you and mum were around the same age as us when you had me, right?”

John nodded “Yeah, we were” He said “It’s not easy raising a baby though”

“I’ve practically been raising Birdie since she was born” Tilly reminded him “And you’ll still be around to help, right? You’re not gonna kick me out and leave us-”

“Of course he’s not” Polly said, causing John to roll his eyes

“Tilly, whatever you want to do, we’re right behind you” John said, causing Tilly to nod

“Do I need to decide right now?” Tilly asked, looking at Polly

“No” She said, shaking her head “But I’d say you only have a couple of weeks before it’s going to be too late”

“Okay” Tilly mumbled, nodding a little

“Come on you” Frankie said, gently moving Tilly off his lap “Let’s go find Charlie so you and Mia can talk wedding plans”

Tilly’s eyes lit up “Charlie’s getting married?!”

“He is” Frankie replied 

“Well why didn’t you tell me sooner?! Let’s go!” She squealed, taking Frankie’s hand and dragging him out.

“You alright?” Polly said, looking at John, who looked like he’d seen a ghost.

“She’s Martha’s double” John said, lighting another cigarette “It’s like I blinked and she became a woman”

“Kids do that to you John, one minute you’re wiping their arses and the next they’ve grown up and started their own family”

“Artie’s not there yet”

“Artie’s not a woman” Polly said “You men don’t grow up until you have to”

John sighed. He wasn’t ready for Tilly to grow up and get married and have babies. He wanted his kids to stay kids forever, even if they did drive him up the fucking wall. God, being a dad had made him soft, but he wouldn’t change it for the world. He absolutely couldn’t stand the thought of what those boys had done to Tilly, and he hated even more that he didn’t get a chance to kill them all himself. He shook his head, completely ignoring whatever it was Polly was yapping on about now, and just turned his head as Hattie appeared in the doorway.

“You should be in bed” 

“I got bored” She mumbled, coming to climb up onto his lap

“You feeling better?” He asked, kissing her head

“A little bit” She replied “Is there any food left?”

“Nope, it’s all gone” John said “But I’m sure if you give Aunt Pol your best smile, I’m sure she’ll make you something”

“Oh bloody hell!” Polly said, shaking her head as she busied herself around the kitchen, causing Hattie to giggle

“You don’t have plans to grow up anytime soon, do you?” John asked, and she shook her head

“Not yet daddy”

“That’s my girl” John smiled, giving her a squeeze.

“John? Is Minnie here?!” Arthur’s voice boomed through the house as he walked in

“Yeah she’s around somewhere” John replied “Everything alright?”

“No it’s not bloody alright” Arthur shook his head “We’ve just had the copper’s round telling us that her and Ruby got caught down the market nicking this that and bloody everything, wouldn’t surprise me if Tilly was involved too”

John shook his head “No, not my Tilly. She’s too preoccupied with Frankie to be out nicking”

“Well I don’t know where Minnie’s getting it from” Arthur shook his head “You know she out fighting the other day? Tried to push someone off the bridge over the canal”

“It’s those girls that have moved in down Farrah Lane, they started at their school last term, seem like a bunch of spoilt brats to me” John replied “Ruby and Minnie need to stay away from them before they get themselves into real trouble”

“You can say that again, brother” Arthur sighed “Billy ain’t much better, he reckons that now he’s 18 he can do whatever the fuck he wants”

John shook his head “Artie’s 16 and thinks he can do whatever he fucking wants”

“Yeah well I ain’t fucking having it no more, I’m putting my foot down”

“Is that right, is it?”

“Too right” Arthur mumbled “Minnie May! Get ‘ere now! We’re going home!”

Minnie ran into the room, and looked up at her dad sweetly “Oh hey daddy”

“Don’t you ‘hey daddy’ me” Arthur shook his head “Get home, now”

“What could I have possibly done?” She pouted crossing her arms “I’ve been with Uncle John all night”

“Oh now she’s done it” John chuckled, as he took a bite of what Polly had laid out for Hattie.

“What could you have done?!” Arthur snapped, grabbing Minnie to start smacking her “Take your mind back to your little trip to the market with Ruby”

“Ow! Daddy! Stop! I’m sorry! I already got span-” She stopped herself before she could say anymore, but it was too late

“Dropped yourself in it there girl” John said, shaking his head 

“What do you mean you already got spanked?” Arthur asked

“I put her over my lap last night because she was swearing like a bloody sailor” John told him “Said it didn’t have to go any further but apparently she’s just asking for it today”

“Really, Minnie?” Arthur asked with his eyebrow raised “Home, now. See you later John”

John just nodded to his brother as he dragged Minnie out of the house, smacking her down the street, knowing she was really in for it when she got home. 

“I suppose you’re going out with the boys later?” Polly asked John “And I suppose you’ll need someone to watch the kids?”

“I’m actually shipping them off to Tommy’s for the night and Lizzie’s gonna watch them, but thanks for the offer Pol” John rolled his eyes 

“I don’t wanna go to Uncle Tommy’s” Hattie pouted “Can I go to Uncle Michael’s instead?”

“Why do you wanna go to Uncle Michael’s?”  
Hattie shrugged “Aunt Gina lets me play dress up with her clothes”

“Is that right?” John chuckled “Well you’ve certainly perked up, I’ll ask her, alright?”

“Thanks daddy” She smiled, hopping off of his lap “I’m going to find Elsie!”

“Alright” He smiled as she ran off, and Polly looked at John expectantly. “What?”

“What are you gonna do about Artie?”

John looked confused “What about Artie?”

“Oh for christ’s sake!” She snapped “It’s time you got harder on him! He’s going to be a man soon and if he wants in on the family business he needs to shape up or Tommy won’t have him!”

John rolled his eyes “Will you calm down Pol? The kid’s 16 for fucks sake!”

“When you were 16 you were preparing to be a father”

“So why not let him enjoy it a bit longer eh? What harm’s he doing?! I don’t know why everyone’s so keen for these bloody kids to grow up”

Polly sighed “You’re pretty cut up about Tilly, aren’t you?”

John nodded “She’s a good kid, she doesn’t deserve any of this”

“You’re right, she doesn’t” Polly replied “But she’s made of tough stuff is your Tilly, she’ll be just fine”

“Yeah, you’re right” John sighed “She shouldn’t have to be though”

“Shouldn’t have to be what?” Tilly said as she walked back in, and started raiding the cupboards “We need to go down the market and stock up again”

“Didn’t you just go 3 days ago?”

Tilly shrugged “Artie and Joey eat like animals” She said, grabbing something out of the cupboard and scarfing it down “So, me and Mia have the whole wedding planned, she already knows what dress she wants and she asked me to be maid of honour, can you believe that?! Anyway she asked me to bake her wedding cake which of course I said yes to and we’ve got it all planned out exactly what it’s going to look like, oh and I’ve decided I’m keeping my baby so me and Frankie are getting married so I need to get back actually and…”

John pulled her back into the room as she tried to leave, and raised an eyebrow “You want to keep the baby? Are you sure? It’s only been a couple of hours, you didn’t need to make a decision that quickly”

Tilly rolled her eyes “I just told you all that cool stuff and that’s the bit you’re focusing on?”

“Yes that’s the bit I’m focusing on” John sighed “Tilly, what’s made you decide so fast?”

“Me and Frankie talked” She explained “We both want this a lot, we want to get married and start a family, and now we have the perfect kick start to do that”

“As long as you’re sure” John said “Are you moving out?”

Tilly shook her head “I was thinking Frankie could move in here”

John looked shocked but nodded a little “Yeah… if you want”

“Perfect!” Tilly smiled, kissing his cheek before skipping out again.

“John, you can’t have Frankie and a new baby here” Polly said, shaking her head

“I know” John sighed “But I couldn’t say no to my baby”


End file.
